UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 11 JUNE 2009
The University's Interactive Cultures research team has been shortlisted for The Impact Awards in the Business Impact category for a project which has helped music and broadcast businesses tap into new and emerging technologies.
The project, which is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) helps businesses look at the challenges facing them and impart the knowledge that universities hold to help them overcome those issues.
The University has helped businesses such as Capsule which promotes live events, in particular the internationally renowned Supersonic Festival and Birmingham Music Archive which is an online repository celebrating the musical heritage of Birmingham.
The team is made up of four Fellows: Professor Tim Wall, Dr Paul Long, Andrew Dubber and Sam Coley and they are supported by a project team lead by Dr Nick Webber. The Fellows work with 29 external partners, drawn mainly from the West Midlands' creative industries community but there are also partners from Manchester and London.
Fourteen teams beat off stiff competition from 73 other entries to make the shortlist for The Impact Awards, which is organised by Unico. All the teams have made outstanding impact through innovation and the awards recognise projects that have made an outstanding business impact, through successful knowledge transfer.
Professor Wall said: "The Birmingham School of Media has always had close links with the local creative industries and is known for its work within the sector. This in turn has led to staff having formed strong links with the local creative sector and being recognised for quality of work. When the AHRC announced the funding scheme for Knowledge Transfer projects it was a natural extension of the work the school was already undertaking. We are delighted that this has been recognised nationally."
The award winners will be announced on Friday 12 June.
For further information please contact Birmingham City University Media Relations Office on 0121 331 6738, email press@bcu.ac.uk or out of hours on 07967 271 532.